


Does this count as a Motorcycle Date.

by SfrogPlus



Series: Gifts For Some Neat People [5]
Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Cake, Cooking, Fear of Motorcycles, I don't know how to tag what is this, I tried to lean towards motorcycle date but then that failed, Literal Sleeping Together, Low-key Insecurities, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Mental Health Issues, Motorcycles, Not really out of character?, Out of Character, Pomegranates, Rings, Suits, Un-Sleep, somewhat out of character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:07:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28438869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SfrogPlus/pseuds/SfrogPlus
Summary: A date with a cafe, a motorcycle, an apartment, a pomegranate, a dinner, a background goose, and two rings. Except Shuichi is not having a date with those and I just realized I worded it wrong.*one sentence mentions eye mutilation, courtesy of Kokichi, and an eggshell cut.
Relationships: Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi
Series: Gifts For Some Neat People [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1741915
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	Does this count as a Motorcycle Date.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GhostyHeir](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GhostyHeir/gifts).



> First and foremost, happy birth ghost!! I'm a little late, but, eh, what can you do when you're dying each and every point of second in your life. The reason for this was because I saw your drawing of Shuichi on a motorcycle, and my brain just went _brrrr,_ but then I saw what you wanted for your birthday, and my brain went _BRRRRRRR_. So, happy birth bro!
> 
> Wait haha I just remember, "sexy motorcycle vroom vroom" I don't know what this means but I saw it in like, a chat fic once and I thought, haha lol why is this Saihara’s name. I still don't know to this day.

Shuichi sighs, feeling his face flush as he stares into the mirror.

He's wearing a leather jacket, cut at his stomach, with silver-coloured buttons sewed into the lapels, cuffs folded over a dark grey turtleneck sweater that was a little too warm in his apartment. Kaede was the one to get him this, late into fall, saying it _ "complimented his eyes"  _ or something. Leather pants matching his jacket, covered by black thigh-length boots with buckles, small heels making him only slightly taller. His hair is combed to the left, winged eyeliner and fingernails painted black (courtesy of Himiko and Maki ganging upon him) that need to get covered by his gloves, and his special silver piercings in.

If one were to ask him how he was feeling, Shuichi would reply with a deadpan no. The reason being was that he was dating someone— and going on a date with that certain person. Dating wouldn't be the particular word to describe their relationship, but it was good enough on a good day because that someone wasn't any average person, they weren't someone you could just simply date. 

No, it was Ouma Kokichi.

Yeah, that's right. He was dating Ouma fucking Kokichi.

Once more, Shuichi lets out a deep breath and straightens his leather jacket. He combs his fingers through his hair, checks himself in the mirror again, and decides he looks good enough. "Okay, Shuichi, you can do this…"

But in reality, he can't. 

He rushes through his apartment, his minimal black living room and checkered kitchen Ouma forced him to make, grabs his motorcycle keys along with his helmet, and heads out of his apartment, number 53.

There's a small garden in front Shuichi is careful not to try and trample as he stumbles through to his motorcycle. The neighbours have been careful to raise their hellebores with their growing daughter, so Shuichi avoids even going near them. 

The garage where he lives is a small garage since most people don't need cars to get around. His motorcycle sits in the corner, a black, glossy beauty that he takes extra care in.

With a small smile, he puts his helmet on and gets ready to drive.

⊙

Shuichi arrives ten minutes early with decent traffic, which he decides is okay when Kokichi once arrived a day early. (The end result of that day was a boyfriend with a cold and Kokichi complaining that if Shuichi arrived earlier like him it wouldn't have happened. Of course, all it took to get Kokichi to stop was some cuddling.)

He parks his vehicle on one of the lanes, taking his keys out, and helmet off. His hair probably got messed up at least a little, but Shuichi shrugs at that and puts it off as good enough.

This time, they were having a date at this strange cafe Kokichi has been wanting to go to with him for a while now. When Shuichi looked it up, the only negative view he saw was that their mother spilt their tea on them there, which is a bit of a ridiculous thing to say. But then again, Shuichi has seen the reviews on the bible, so he isn't too shocked.

Setting down his helmet and gloves on a reserved table, he breathes in the air. Coffee. Coffee and sweets. Shuichi relaxes to the smell, leaning back in the chair. It isn't too cold inside, but the freezing weather was dealing with its damage to the temperature inside.

The cafe doesn't look too bad, despite the fears Shuichi built up overnight at what horrid nightmare Kokichi would place him in. The floor is sleek black marble tiles, the walls with some clean lace patterns on the walls. The tables are black, small antique black tables with metal chairs that have small cushions. The counter has a viewing glass with many appetizing cakes, cupcakes, and mini desserts. Small lights hang from the ceiling, shining warm light down on Shuichi.

Other people hang around, wearing winter clothing around the cafe.

"Hello?" Someone calls over to him, voice accented from somewhere unique and elegant. One of the cafe waitresses, wearing a black suit that they seem too casual in. She purses her lips when she realizes Shuichi is alone. "Oh. Five more minutes, right? For the other guy to come, Ouma Kokichi. The waitresses here and I have this little bet on him—"

"Y-you bet on my boyfriend!?" Shuichi asks, bewildered. "Oh, um, continue. S-Sorry."

"I was just joking. Don't worry." The waitress explains soothingly, straightening her tie. It doesn't sound like she was joking, but Shuichi brushes that aside and lets her continue. "Anyways, is there anything you would like to eat? Like for example, black coffee? A strawberry cheesecake slice? A blueberry and banana parfait? Our cafe specializes in tiramisu, so I would recommend that, but we also make a large selection of sweets." She brushes a strand of black hair back, fixing her tornado-style hair

"Oh, um… I-I'll have the tiramisu then. And uh, a black medium cup of coffee, with, er, a drizzle of caramel and two bags of sugar." Shuichi describes through stutters, tapping his fingers against the table, never looking at the eyes of the waitress.

"Wow. With the way you look, I would have guessed you would like your coffee black." The waitress has the gall to comment.

Shuichi looks offended as he mumbles, "Black coffee is too bitter…"

"Mn." He can almost feel her judgement as his eyes fall into his lap, "I'll go start making it then, and if I see that little boyfriend of yours not here in… two minutes, now, then I win the bet— I mean, you have to pay double. Yeah. Double." The waitress says without promise. She takes leave with a polite wave and a backhanded smirk, leaving Shuichi to sit awkwardly by himself like back in middle school.

Shuichi eventually, in the ten passing seconds since she left, pulls out his phone and checks to see if Kokichi is nearby.

No messages.

Sighing, Shuichi shuts his eyes. 

Soon, Kokichi would probably come, If the waitress was correct. Shuichi could wait that long, despite his growing and overreacting worries. He breathes in, out, in, out just to take up time and calm himself. Anxiety wasn't good with him, so he thinks of old, happy memories.

Kokichi.

Four years.

Four years, since he and Kokichi began dating. They— They met back in high school.

Maki and Himiko, along with Himiko's male-hating friend and Kaede, began a small club. The occult club, which somehow managed to be a passable club for the teachers. The four of them slowly turned the old photography club room into a rather dreary room, and Maki even got bones from somewhere to put on the floor (non-conspicuously, of course). Kaede forced him to join, saying that it would fit his  _ "aesthetic" _ apparently.

The first willing person to join, however, was Rantaro. The second unwilling person to join was Kokichi, dragged in by Rantaro. Kokichi back then was one hell of a firecracker, destroying everything, and _ more,  _ he got his little grubby hands on. That did not discount the occult club. Some days, he would be wearing the most obnoxious goth dresses he could find, slapped on with some smudged makeup, add an umbrella, and bam. Other days, Shuichi would find him editing Himiko's "magic" textbook with red pen, or breaking all of Maki's pens in half. (On those days, Maki would replace the pens with knives from the cooking club, and eventually, Kokichi stopped breaking her pens when Maki pulled out a knife during class and started writing with it.) 

There was one day in particular that Shuichi remembers with clear focus when he and Kokichi were sitting alone in the occult room, looking up stories and pictures. All of a sudden, Kokichi asks Shuichi a random question.

"Hey, wanna kiss?"

Shuichi remembers sputtering, before starting to choke. He thinks it was around five very quiet and awkward minutes before Kokichi clarified in a small voice, "Ah. I meant in a no Bromo way if that helps your choking."

"N-No Bromo..?" Shuichi asked back then.

"Yeah, I'm all homo for you, dude." Kokichi nodded. And that was how Kokichi confessed to Shuichi before Shuichi even knew he was bisexual. It wasn't until a year later, in their third years while Kokichi was studying with Gonta, that Shuichi started to realize he had feelings for the guy. So, in typical fashion, Shuichi did what he thought was best.

He asked Kokichi if he wanted to still kiss.

And now they were dating? Not dating? It was never really official but Shuichi assumes. Close to dating in a nontraditional sense, in their third year of college, and very much going out on dates and still kissing.

Shuichi is decidedly happy with the way his life has turned out, with the way Kokichi always seems to smile brighter these days, or the fact he gets to be around friends during weekends, or even that Shuichi is more relaxed and comfortable then he was before.

Hearing the cafe door open, Shuichi already knows who it is.

"I'll eat your ass," are the first words of the day that Shuichi did not need to hear. Turning around, Shuichi sees Kokichi grinning ear-to-ear at Shuichi. "Well, not literally or sexually but, you know."

"For the memes?" Shuichi asks, smiling back.

"For the memes." Kokichi agrees before his eyes take up Shuichi. Shuichi almost blushes when he realizes this, awkwardly rubbing their neck. Kokichi whistles, "Feeling warm, Mr. Detective?"

"Oh, I'll probably take it off. N-Not in a... Nevermind, actually. Uh— feel free to sit down? N-no like you need my permission but, b-but, um, yeah. Yeah." Shuichi says, and Kokichi obediently follows. He seems natural being here, Shuichi observes as Kokichi yells something to a waitress. He seems comfortable. Safe enough. 

Good.

Shuichi sighs in relief.

He decides that he would take this time, while Kokichi is distracted, to admire his boyfriend. Shuichi has known for a while now, that Kokichi is a very cute person. He sleeps in shorts and a T-shirt too big for himself with a stuffed animal three-fourths his size. The guy likes to eat sweets and helps Kirumi make them just for his devouring pleasure. Kokichi has this special smile when Shuichi calls him by something endearing. Sometimes he manages to get into Shuichi's apartment just to relax and sleep on Shuichi's bed without a reason, and while that may be very alarming it could be considered cute.

That thought does not disappear when he sees his boyfriend. Cute, is an effortless way to not say enough about him. Kokichi is wearing a large white, fluffy sweater and a checkered scarf hiding his neck away. Black ripped pants with a silver belt looped around, and his hair tied back with a dark grey scrunchie. White platform shoes that have a buckle around them. The only colour on him is the rainbow strips behind his shoes, the hairclips scoured across his hair, and the cherry gloss lipstick he has on. 

"Mn, I know I look great, but thanks for your admiration, darling." Kokichi purrs while a different waitress leaves. He puts one foot on his knee and sits like a strange way a cat would, which wouldn't be exactly wrong. "Already did your order?"

Shuichi tries not to let his face turn red as he replies, "Uh, y-yeah." He has gotten better at withstanding Kokichi and the whole eccentric package that came with him, but whenever Kokichi manages to point out Shuichi's gay infatuation with him, Shuichi can't help but feel a little embarrassed.

"What'd you get?" Kokichi asks. His eyes meet Shuichi's. 

With his very best powers, Shuichi doesn't look away. "O-Oh, I think I got, uh… tiramisu? and a coffee. That reminds me actually, the—”

“Yeah?” Kokichi asks.

“the waitress commented that I look like a black coffee drinker."

Kokichi forces back a laugh down his throat. "Wow… I mean, they aren't wrong—" Shuichi lightheartedly punches his shoulder. Kokichi lets out a dramatic gasp, but nothing further. "Was she the one wearing a suit with a gold-encrusted red tie?" Shuichi pauses, thinking of the tie. It was red, maroon-tinted that reminded Shuichi of Maki's eyes, with gold embroidery.

He nods. "Actually... yes. Yes, she was wearing a gold and red tie."

"Oh, that's Ludenburg Celestia." Kokichi explains, "She's gotten less uptight being here, back when I knew her before. She's a gambler, really good at it too, she hasn't lost one game since I've met her, apparently..? Man, that's so long ago I don't even know. She's weird." Shuichi feels like there's more to the story, especially since it sounds like he knew her before this shop. He doesn't ask though, not bothering on intruding the story of Kokichi since last time didn't go well.

"You're weird," Shuichi states instead because it's true.

Kokichi responds with a carefree laugh, "Yeah. Yeah, I am. That just means we're a little pair of weirdness."

"A pair of weirdity," Shuichi says.

"Weird pair disease!" Kokichi adds with a shout.

"God… that sounds like quite the deadly disease, Kokichi." Shuichi notes with a small smile, "What’re the symptoms, doctor?" Shuichi leans forward, and Kokichi mirrors his movements from the other side of the table, one foot on one knee.

Kokichi ponders for a moment, before tapping his chin. "I'd say… it differs for everyone. Enemies. Lovers. Wedded. Siblings. All the pairs are just a few steps different from one another. Tough luck to those fuckers, our disease is the strongest."

"And that's a good thing..?" Shuichi asks.

Kokichi grins. "Fuck yeah it is. Oh, wait a moment. I have to go to the restroom."

He watches as Kokichi jumps away to wherever he's going. Sitting in silence, he scrolls down through any texts from his friends. There's at least five if not six messages, so he checks.

They're all just messages screaming at him that Kaito was gifted a duck by the heavens, or something. Nothing too out-of-the-usual. Shuichi decides to hit them with a minimal  _ "k"  _ and that was the end of that. Shuichi should probably buy him some… duck food, or whatever those things eat, but he's busy right now on a date.

Kokichi comes back a minute or so later, sitting back down with a blank face and his hand in his pocket. Shuichi calls his name, but Kokichi doesn't react. Shuichi calls again, "Kokichi? Are you alright?"

Kokichi's eyes drift up to Shuichi's, head snapping up. "Oh, yeah. Yeah I am. Yeah. I was just… thinking."

Shuichi freezes. "What is it..?" He worries about what Kokichi will say, his stress slowly building up with the more silence Kokichi spends instead of talking. "Kokichi?"

"I—" Kokichi takes a deep breath. "I, was thinking about waffles lately." Shuichi freezes up even more, eyes widening at the unexpected answer. "Waffles… you think I can go to Hong Kong one day? I wanna eat one of those egg waffles. Sorry, it's just been. It's been on my mind lately."

"Oh. Oh my god, Kokichi." Shuichi says, sighing in relief. "I thought you were going to, t-to, like, b-break up with me..! You gave me a heart attack." Kokichi cracks a grin, crossing his legs on the chair.

"I wouldn't do that." Kokichi claims, "I'm too attached to let you leave now. You're stuck with me." Snickering, he flashes Shuichi a smirk.

(It's hard to believe though. No, it's not that Shuichi doesn't trust Kokichi, or that he doesn't think they're right for each other. The two fit like puzzle pieces, in actuality. Shuichi just worries, some days. He imagines situations where one morning Kokichi will just disappear, or another day one of them may be hit by a car. Or that this was all a lie, four years of their lives just like that, and he was playing a puppet in whatever shitshow Kokichi wanted him to play.)

Shuichi doesn't dare stay on the topic of that and asks, "What should we do after this? Should we go to the park and walk a little, or do you want to…" His voice fades away, watching as Kokichi blinks.

"Oh, right. After this. Well, we could probably go to space. To pigfarts, 'cuz that would be so poggers." Kokichi answers, deadpan. It's a reference to something, a reference that Shuichi doesn't get. "The headmaster there is a lion, y'know." Shuichi, in fact, doesn't know.

Shuichi sighs, leaning back even more into his chair. "A serious answer, please."

"A serious answer with a cherry on top?"

"Yes, please." Shuichi nods, with no understanding whatsoever of what that means.

Kokichi thinks for a second before saying, "We could go to your place, and rest. Or my place, but I think Miu and Kiibo are still there doing crack with Rantaro." A pause. "That was a joke. They're there, though, and stole my keys so I can't get back in. Jokes on them though! I stole their wallets!" He proceeds to pull out five wallets, before hiding two back.

"Miu and Kiibo..? Are you talking about Iruma-san and Kiibo-san?" Kokichi shrugs, "Ah. Okay, thanks. So your place is out of the picture, then..."

Kokichi thinks out loud, "But there's also…" in a louder tone, he declares out loud, "There's also that new fairy garden we could go to. Gonta recommended it to me 'cuz… 'cuz apparently the bugs there were special poisonous beetles? Actually, on second thought let's not go there."

"I agree," Shuichi winces.

"How about we just hang out at your place? Then later, we could drive to… uh, McDonald's or something and hang out in the park underneath the sunlight— even better,  _ moonlight. _ Real romantic, right?" Shuichi stares at Kokichi. "Okay, okay, I was kidding!"

"Like hell you were," Shuichi mutters, but he's smiling.

The two fall into a slightly comfortable, mostly awkward silence that comes next, as the background noise is filled with drinks being made, people talking, and waitresses shouting to each other.

Eventually, a waitress comes back. This one is wearing a more purple-tinted black suit with an orange tie, sleeves cuffed up with her hair braided into something French. "Hello, Ouma-san and…" Her eyes sharpen at Shuichi, which Shuichi is frantic not to look away from her intimidating aura.

"U-Um. Saihara Shuichi. I-I'm Saihara Shuichi." Shuichi introduces, glancing over at Kokichi. He seems too busy twirling his hair to notice Shuichi in any sort of distress.

"Nice to meet, Saihara-san." She stiffly bows, "I have come here with what you ordered." 

Looking over, a wide grin takes up Kokichi's face. "'Kay! Thanks, Kiri-chan." She sets down an antique plate on a laced napkin, along with a teacup and Shuichi's non-black coffee. Then she begins to set down Kokichi's cakes, drizzled in strange chocolate syrup. It's all too sweet-looking for Shuichi to even bear to look at, so he doesn't.

"Ah… thank you, Kiri-san." Shuichi thanks, bowing in his seat a little.

He tries not to notice her slightly frazzled face before it goes back to being serious. When Shuichi looks over, Kokichi is almost choking. He tries not to notice that as well as he says his thanks for the tiramisu and begins eating with the small, silver spoon he was given.

After a while, Kokichi becomes bored of choking so he joins Shuichi.

"Oh! This is," Shuichi says through bites, "actually quite good. Plus, the cost isn't as expensive as my usual coffee cafe, and the waitresses and aesthetic is nice…" Chomp, "perhaps I should come," chomp, chomp, "back here again."

"Heh." Kokichi smiles, "I might be here then. Oh! I just realized we're matching, black and white. Monochromic. That's cute, like that… uh, that one famous weirdness bear, that one from Dangan… Oompa? Is it from that Oompa Loompa American show?" Kokichi's thoughts stay on that for a moment before he shrugs, uncaring.

"We are..?" Shuichi looks at each other's outfits. 

"Yup!" Kokichi reaffirms, nodding wildly as his hair flies accordingly. "We're little Oompa Loompas now!"

"Huh, that's nice." Shuichi smiles. Chomp.

Chomp. "Yup."

"..." Chomp chomp.

"... So, we could go back to your place, make up some dinner and I could sleep there before I go homeless or kill Miu, sounds good?" Kokichi asks, stabbing his fork into the plate. He takes a huge piece and bites into it, barely even chewing before swallowing.

"How about… while you hang out at my place, you can call Rantaro and we can have him bring your keys back. Then next morning we can snatch your keys, go to your place, and eat breakfast, or something?" Shuichi asks back. Nodding, Kokichi resolves the case as he bites into a different cake.

"Sounds good, Shu."

With nothing left to say, the two eat in silence, every now and again bringing up conversation of old topics like the dead fish that came back to life in Kokichi's living room, or when Shuichi woke up to Kaito and Kaede in fruit costumes loudly arguing in front of his bed. 

(The coffee is fine. It could be better, but it's better than most coffee shops. It has a strange fruity taste that reminds Shuichi of fresh peaches, but something more acidic, and mixing it with caramel is something Shuichi shouldn't do. It was fine, though. Absolutely fine.)

⊙

After they're done eating, Shuichi calls over the waitress — Ludenburg is her name — to pay for their sweets and coffee. The cost isn't too bad for what they got, especially since the cakes Kokichi got probably take a lot of ingredients and time to make.

Shuichi notes how familiar Kokichi seems with all the waitresses, waving and sending off-handed compliments to one of them. A blast of cold air manages to land on them as they exit.

Immediately, Kokichi gives Shuichi a hug, "Thanks for paying." Shuichi has always liked it when Kokichi hugs him or decides to hold his hand. From the very start, Kokichi was very touchy. Anything along with those sorts always made Shuichi feels a little warmer inside, at least a little happier. It's one of his favourites, among many, things he enjoys about Kokichi. 

Petting Kokichi's head, Shuichi responds with, "Yeah. Uh, do you want to ride back with me..? I-If you want to, of course." Shuichi already knows Kokichi's answer when he sees the smirk on his face. "I guess that's a yes, then, unless I'm incorrect."

"How else would I get to your place? Take the subway? That costs money, and I'm  _ broke."  _ Kokichi lies, even when Shuichi has seen his apartment. Though not quite sure where he gets the money to afford such a place, Shuichi can't help but wonder why the guy even bothers lying. "I don't have a helmet, by the way."

Shuichi chimes a suggestion, "There's a bike store nearby, isn't there? They should have helmets there." Kokichi's face brightens, despite the cold weather.

"Oh right! I forgot about that place since I'm always so busy going around to underground black markets. Y'know, the usual." Kokichi explains though it's obviously a lie. "Wait, I'll go buy one. You just stay here and look pretty, 'kay?"

"I won't exactly just look pretty… but okay. I'll start the engine." Shuichi points out, though Kokichi is already walking away.

With a sigh, he begins to use the keys and make sure it gets warm. It was quite cold out, and while he has taken Kokichi for a couple rides before he knows that his boyfriend isn't completely used to it. While he puts his gloves back on, he stares at a cat sticker the neighbour’s daughter must have out on his motorcycle some time ago.

He hopes with his dear life this trip will be okay.

Shuichi waits a couple more minutes before he sees Kokichi running back, with a helmet in hand. He gives a small wave to Kokichi. "Oh, hey. Welcome back."

"Hey," Kokichi waves back. "Got a helmet." He puts out his helmet, a pure white one, like a prize. "So we match, get it? Black and white. Monochromatic. Oompa Loompa!" Giving Shuichi a wide grin, he puts on the helmet. "I also have one at home, but I chucked it at Kiibo and Miu, so— it's contaminated."

Shuichi smiles, "Yeah, I get it. Alright, uh, make sure that you put it on correctly, and when we're riding, make sure to hold on tight. Like, real tight. If you want to, shut your eyes so you don't scream, and uh... the traffic isn't too bad today, so I think we'll be pretty good, but…"

"You're over worrying, dear. Chill." Kokichi wraps his arms around Shuichi, bumping his helmet on Shuichi. "Oh, sorry not sorry." Shuichi takes a second to fix Kokichi's helmet, looking over it just to make sure.

"I… right. I know that."

"If it helps, I think it's badass you ride a motorcycle." Kokichi blurts out, and Shuichi is on the fence on whether it's helpful or not to his nerves. Giving a shy smile to Kokichi, Shuichi flushes a bit. "Alright, time to drive!"

Shuichi stuffs his helmet on, feeling a little warmer with it. He sits on the motorcycle and feels Kokichi grab onto his waist. "Make sure that—"

"I'm holding on  _ really  _ tightly, yeah yeah." Kokichi nonchalantly finishes. He tightens his hold though, and Shuichi feels a little more relieved.

Driving a motorcycle reminded Shuichi a little when he used to ride a bike, hands-on handles, feet on the steps, making sure he was holding on tight. Simple steps, one at a time.

Then he starts driving.

It's always exhilarating to him when he starts, a luxury rush of excitement he can get from few things. The air around him is less of a worry, and Shuichi's brain tends to think he should go faster, that he should build up more speed. Though, he never does of course.

Shuichi feels Kokichi's grip around him tighten, and he slowly makes his way out of the parking lot. He takes extra care on going slow this time with Kokichi in the back. Moments like these make Shuichi remember that Kokichi has fears and that he should try his best not to disrupt them.

"Are you doing good?" Shuichi almost shouts. He thinks Kokichi can hear him as they make their way to their first stoplight, but Shuichi isn't too sure.

Kokichi seems to when he shouts back, "Y-Yeah! I feel like I could burn down a building right now and get away with it!" Kokichi is clearly not okay then, as his usual comment would be that he could burn down the entire government and start a theocracy under his name.

"I'll— If you want, I can try to slow down?" Shuichi suggests before the stoplight turns green and he begins to drive down. "Kokichi?"

"Just  _ drive."  _ Kokichi whines, burrowing his head in the back of Shuichi's leather jacket.

Shuichi doesn't respond, understanding. Instead, he takes in the scenery as he drives. They're in the more traditional part of town, a few miles away from Shuichi's house. Opposite of its city counterpart, the buildings here were more rural. A small farm was growing something in the water East of him, and he saw a park to his West.

Slowly, he finds himself in a more familiar place, near his neighbourhood. Shuichi realizes Kokichi's grip untightens, and he can feel his boyfriend lift his head out. A small noise, some sort of squeak, makes Shuichi smile.

"I think I might vomit right here and now," Kokichi says calmly behind him, making Shuichi lose his smile. "That was a lie." Shuichi is unsure whether he should go back to smiling or not, before deciding social cues aren't his thing and losing those thoughts entirely.

Shuichi sees his apartment building up ahead, so he slows down the motorcycle and parks it into his usual spot, near the corner.

He takes off his helmet and breathes in the cold air, caring less if his hair was now completely ruined. Kokichi bumps into him, more by choice than dizziness Shuichi suspects, taking off his own helmet and grimacing.

"Are you okay, Kokichi?" Shuichi asks once more, patting down Kokichi's hair.

Almost instantaneously does Kokichi force a smile to his face. "Man! That was fun. Good thing we didn't crash or die or that would have been a total pain." Shuichi sighs at Kokichi, brushing down his hair before grabbing his keys out of the motorcycle. "I'm still sticking to my declaration that you look totally badass while vroom vroom-ing." A questionable comment Shuichi decides to ignore.

"Next time, I'll take the bus. We can go together and you can not have a panic attack—"

"— not a panic attack —" Kokichi interrupts, rubbing his face in Shuichi's sweater.

"while I drive," Shuichi explains. Kokichi doesn't bother responding as he decides his new favourite thing is the sweater Kaede got him. "It's a little chilly out here. Should we go inside?"

"Yeah, I want to shower too so," Kokichi adds.

Giving him a thumbs-up, Shuichi replies, "I have a towel, and… ah, I may have to restock on shampoo soon, but I think I have enough for a week or so. You could probably wear your clothes, or wear mine if you want to. Then, I have some ingredients for curry..."

Shuichi avoids stepping over the garden flowers, which Kokichi mimics so. They make their way to Shuichi's doorstep, with the number 53 and a small doormat that reads  _ "No soliciting". _ Nothing special, which Kokichi has complained about before, but Shuichi likes the simplicity.

Kokichi takes his platforms off easily, waiting a moment for Shuichi to do the same in a not-so-easily fashion. He stares at an old portrait Angie, one of the old occult members, drew of the two, above a cabinet Shuichi hasn't bothered dusting in a while.

"Okay, so…"

"Shower. Then, commit crime?" Kokichi asks.

Shuichi frowns, "That… can come last on the list." Kokichi grins all Cheshire-like, fingers wrapping around Shuichi's. Making their way down a small hall, they end up in the open kitchen.

" Shower. Call Rantaro. Relax. Snuggle. Make dinner. Eat dinner. Eat more. Sleep, then go snatch my keys and commit crime." Kokichi lists on his fingers, pouting. "Aw, we need one more for it to be ten."

"Cuddling?"

"Cuddling." Kokichi taps his fingers, "Yeah, that works I guess." He fixates his gaze on Shuichi, before walking to the bedroom where the bathroom was. Shuichi knows that Kokichi is familiar with what to do here, without a doubt. Still, he follows Kokichi into the bedroom and decides to sit down.

A tap of a faucet before he hears pouring water lets Shuichi know Kokichi is now showering. 

Alone in his head, Shuichi takes off his leather jacket. He pulls out his phone and sees a few more messages talking about the type of duck it was in the group chat. All Kaito really responded with was that the duck was white, and had an orange beak.

Two minutes later after Shuichi asks for a picture does he realize that it is indeed not a duck, but a goose.

With that he decides is enough talking to Kaito for the day, because he doesn't think his brain will be able to handle any more of Kaito's strange antics. Shutting his phone off, he glances around his room.

It's minimal, like the rest of his place. His bed sits in the middle, queen-sized, with grey and white sheets. A desk to the left, filled to the brim with papers of schoolwork from college and a corkboard that has old photos back when everyone was younger and still stacked with schoolwork. A small bookshelf filled corner space, some of his favourite books placed on it. Everything else on that shelf was either gifted to him and too nice to throw away or too weird to throw away. Next to his bed was a large mirror he used to doubt his looks and a closet full of hangers and clothes. To his right, was two doors and some abstract piece of art Kokichi gave him of a horse.

It's a little cold even in his bedroom, and he knows that Kokichi will probably want the heater on. It's a small, barely working or he has on the carpet of his floor, but it will have to do. Turning the power switch on to eighty-five degrees, Shuichi can feel the room warm up a little instantly. 

He lays down on his bed with a sigh, content.

Eventually, Shuichi hears the water stop and Kokichi shifts out of the bathroom to the bedroom. He's drying his hair with one towel, another wrapped around his waist.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Shuichi blushes, stumbling his way out of the room. He hears Kokichi say something but he's too busy slamming the door shut to calm down and understand. From the other side, he shouts, "Sorry! I forgot to put some clothes in the bathroom! Ah— Not— I mean, uh, yeah!"

A small snicker comes from inside Shuichi's bedroom. "Oh no! Your eyes, they got mutilated!" Shuichi tries not to even think of that as he walks to his couch. His eyes drift around his combined living room and kitchen, reviewing over small memories like study notes, except you actually look over those study notes.

It isn't long before Kokichi opens the door.

He is still wearing that white scrunchie in his hair. A white button-up shirt, one of Shuichi's multiple button-ups, is loosely tucked in. Kokichi seems to have found a pair of purple sleeping shorts he wore last time he slept here. (He left them here a month ago when Kaito and Rantaro unanimously decided among the two that they were to take all of the guys on a camping trip. After a day of planning, they unanimously decided not to after all and forced Shuichi to host a sleepover, or in Kaito's words,  _ "A manly trip to his sidekick's place!") _

"Oh, I almost forgot I still had those." Shuichi comments.

Kokichi shrugs, sitting down next to Shuichi. "Mn, you left your makeup on the bathroom sink, by the way." Shuichi widens his eyes, standing up and ready to give an apology. "Hey! Who said you could stand back up!? Sit back down and be my chair warmer."

Hesitantly, Shuichi listens. "... I'll, uh, put it away later."

"It's fine, it's fine." Kokichi giggles, "At least your eyeliner was on point today, right? Oh! Talking about that, that lipstick—"

"Cherry?" Shuichi asks, familiar with it.

"Yeah, that one. It came off, and I didn't bring any more." Kokichi mumbles, "Oh well. Guess I'm just going to have to do without it then."

Shuichi nods, "If you're okay with that. Do you want to call Rantaro now or wait a bit..?"

Kokichi wraps his hand around Shuichi, pulling him into a tight hold. Wet hair drips onto Shuichi's sweater and there's not an ounce of guilt on Kokichi's face. "No. Right now it's snuggle time, 'kay?"

"I—"

"Actually, I changed my mind. You don't get a choice; this is a totalitarian government right here." Kokichi interrupts, arms holding Shuichi even tighter. He's like a sloth or some sort of koala.

"... Okay, Kokichi." Shuichi finally says, blushing with a small smile resting on his face.

Very slowly, Kokichi begins to drape himself over Shuichi. "So," he starts but doesn't manage to finish as his eyes close. "So…"

Shuichi sighs, "You can go to sleep if you want to but on my bed. It isn't good for your posture to sleep on the couch. I'll come with you, then call Rantaro when you fall asleep." Kokichi nods, stretching as he stands up.

"Thanks, beloved."

"Of course," Shuichi replies.

⊙

"Oh, hey Rantaro," Shuichi says to the phone, a hand in Kokichi's hair.

_ "Shuichi! Hey, what are you doing right now? Aren't you supposed to be with Kokichi?"  _ Rantaro replies back in the phone, voice still calm and passive through the phone.

Shuichi flusters, "He's, um, asleep next to me. We're in my apartment since… uh, apparently Iruma-san and Kiibo-san stole his keys..? And I was— I was hoping, if possible, you can take them back from Iruma-san? Or Kiibo-san, if he was the one to steal his keys."

There's a long pause of silence, before Rantaro explains,  _ "Kokichi was the one to chuck them at Miu's face before dashing out of his apartment. We were there all night with him and if that wasn't Kokichi's own keys that he threw… hm… Do you think Kokichi is lying?" _

Ah.

Shuichi tries to think of something to respond with, but all he can really think of is, "Oh."

Kokichi grumbles next to him, letting out a soft sigh before his eyes open. "What's going on, Shuichi..?" He rubs his eyes.

_ "I'll get the keys then. Bye, Shuichi! See you later." _

"Yeah, see you later Rantaro." Ending the call, Shuichi looks over to Kokichi, a knowing look on his face.

Kokichi looks back, with ease starting to tear up in his eyes. "Before you say anything, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to give Kaito a goose, I really didn't— It was an accident! It was just chasing me, and—"

"You're the person who gave him the geese!?" Shuichi asks, both equally bewildered and amused. "Wait, no, that's… that's not what I wanted to ask you. I wanted to ask you, uh, if Rantaro was telling the truth? Did you— Did you really  _ throw  _ your keys at Iruma-san..?"

Kokichi shrugs, any sign of guilt disappears. "Mayhaps."

Shuichi sighs, patting Kokichi's head. "Okay, okay. It's around… um." He glances at his phone. "Four, now. Four twenty-five, to be exact. You've been sleeping for, I think thirty minutes..? I just called Rantaro though."

"What were you doing before that?" Kokichi asks, nudging his face against Shuichi's hand. He's like some sort of— cat. He's a cat. Cat, exactly a cat, and nothing more nothing less. "Hey, nobody said you could stop!"

"Oh, right. Sorry." Shuichi mumbles, melting into Kokichi's warmth. "I was, uh… getting updated on Kirumi's babysitting. In the group chat, since we're not too close."

"Babysitting?"

"Except she's getting paid," Shuichi adds helpfully.

Kokichi's lips twist into a soft smile. "I pay her sometimes for her services. She likes being around me though, dontcha know?" Shuichi rolls his eyes, nuzzling his chin into Kokichi's hair.

A grumble of the stomach. Kokichi pipes up, "Hey, got any food here?"

"Didn't we— Didn't we just eat? And you ate around three cake slices..." Shuichi asks, rolling off the bed. "Also, consider the mood ruined."

Kokichi pokes Shuichi's side. His words are a bland tone before his voice does a drastically gasp different, "Oh no. Oh no!"

"I was just kidding, I know it isn't your fault." Shuichi continues, looking partially guilty.

Kokichi laughs, "I know, I know. It isn't ever your fault." He stands up, putting a hand on Shuichi's shoulder. In a more serious tone, he asks once more, "So what do you have in your fridge?"

"Uh… let's go check," Shuichi replies, opening the door and leading them to the kitchen. "What type of foods are you looking for? Or in better words, food?"

"I think I'll have a cracker or two. Or perhaps even three if I'm feeling frisky today." Kokichi smirks, and Shuichi dares to smile back in his own shy way. "Or four if… you know what, let's leave that up to mystery, shall we?"

"I don't have any crackers," Shuichi admits.

There's a look on his face that tells Shuichi Kokichi is ready to punch him.

Shuichi laughs it off, brushing his hand against Kokichi's. "Sorry, sorry. I have some fruit..? From when Kaede comes over, she starts giving me all these fruits and salads and says I should take care of myself better, so…"

"What type of fruit?" Kokichi pouts, with a curious gaze towards Shuichi's fridge. A picture of them, with everyone else (including Iruma and Kiibo and hell, even Shirogane, who Shuichi barely knows) smiling and happy. Some sticky-notes are plastered on, with old reminders he has yet to take down. Inside is barely enough, old leftovers plus fruits and small snacks. A small drawer is for Kokichi's sugar drinks and Kaito's protein drinks.

"Apple slices, frozen cherries… and I think the other fruit is called a pomegranate? But I don't know how to eat it." Shuichi accounts, "I wouldn't recommend eating the apples though. They've been in there for a month now and I don't have the guts to tell Kaede I ate them, nor the guts to throw them away."

Kokichi takes Shuichi's hand, grabs the spoiling apples and throws them into the trash. Innocently, he declares, "You do something new every day. Now I don't have time for this, I gotta eat pomegranate-chan."

Shuichi groans. "Please don't call the poor pomegranate that. Or any fruits."

"No promises." Kokichi hums, grabbing it from the fridge. "Hey, you sure this is supposed to be refrigerated?"

"Nope. Or, um… not sure, you can decide."

Kokichi tilts his head, throws the fruit, catches it, then goes over to the sink to wash it. "I'm deciding it is washable. Oh, and honey, make sure not to tell that idiot I led a goose to his house. Which in all ways, wasn't my fault, the goose was just mad at me for no reason at all and—"

"Bold of you to assume I would betray you in such a small and convenient way, Kokichi," Shuichi replies, grabbing some crackers out of his fridge. He quickly shuffles them back into the fridge, hiding them in one of the drawers. "How do you even eat the— those, those pomegranate things?"

"Pomegranate." Kokichi corrects.

"That's what I said—"

"There are many ways you can eat it," Kokichi informs, "They have small fruits inside that are connected, and you can get it out using your fingers, or mouth, or a spoon, or a chainsaw..? Not sure, haven't tried it yet. The only thing I remember is Rantaro got me one from the store and we had a lot of fun that night."

He reaches for a plate in Shuichi's cupboard, barely tall enough to grab it. The plate, plain white with small crests, lands with a thud and Kokichi sets the pomegranate down with another thud.

"I think Kaede actually got me this since it's a fruit that grows in the winter." Shuichi supplies, poking the strange fruit. "Have fun, Kokichi."

"I always do, around you." Kokichi counters, though it's less of a counter and more of his way of complimenting something about the two, whatever that may be.

Shuichi continues, "I'll be going to the market for food—"

"I'll come with you, then."

"in my motorcycle." Shuichi finishes.

"Nevermind." Kokichi retracts. "I'll have fun eating my pomegranate like you said, dear. Make sure not to get in a car crash, okay?"

Shuichi shivers at the thought of anything like that, remembering the moment Maki started driving. "Don't worry… I'll keep an eye out, though. Anything you want for dinner tonight?"

"Anything you want I'm sure I'll be happy with." Is the lie Kokichi throws at him, a wide smile as his fingers turn red. From the fruit. It seems to have juices inside the small beads of edibility it has. Amazing.

"Are you sure, Kokichi?" Shuichi asks because the last time Kokichi said that it ended very distastefully with Kokichi and Shuichi eating tilapia, and apparently Kokichi hates the taste of fried fish. "Because to be quite honest, I'm feeling like having some more tilapia… My aunt taught me how to make it like that, you know."

"Let's get ramen then." Kokichi offers, "Then you can buy eggs and put it in, and perhaps…"

Shuichi sighs. "You had ramen for lunch yesterday. And the day before that. And before. That isn't healthy."

"Nope! Not at all." Kokichi says, all too cheerfully. " How about some simple egg, then? We can try something up, you have your rice cooker. We could do that, then add some potatoes and spices. That sound good?"

Shuichi pauses for a moment before nodding. "If you're okay with that." He hears over to where he placed down his helmet, grabbing it and his gloves. His keys are over on the kitchen counter, marble white. Kokichi throws it over, with Shuichi barely catching.

"If I'm okay with that," Kokichi repeats, in more of an affirmation.

Shuichi has his wallet hidden high up, to a place where Kokichi can't reach. Standing on his toes, he lets it fall into his hand. "Alright, I'll head out now. Make sure not to mess with anything too much, or burn anything, okay?" Shuichi waves after putting his boots back on, the last thing he sees of his apartment is a cheerful look on Kokichi's face and fingers painted red. From the fruit, of course.

He locks the door, fingertips making contact with his wallet and phone before he leaves. Forgetting to bring his leather jacket, it's colder than Shuichi remembers. Or maybe that's because the sun is slowly starting to lower now.

Shuichi lets out a sigh.

With another avoidance of stepping on any garden flowers, he makes his way to the garage and starts his motorcycle. It begins to purr, in a stupid not-really-right claim, and the area around him warms up even just the slightest.

He remembers what prompted him to start driving a motorcycle. His uncle had one when he was younger, when he was around eleven years old and finally tall enough to ride in the backseat. It was an old motorcycle, dull blue. It was a memorable experience, with a helmet on his head and feeling the wind blow against his arms. When he was finally old enough, sixteen years old, he got his license.

The memories of his friends screaming at him about it are as vibrant as the last time he saw Kokichi.

Beginning to drive, he makes his way out of the apartment garage and into the streets. There’s a common market closeby that often doesn’t have many people on Sundays. Shuichi likes to go there when in a good mood, to go get some food.

The traffic as always isn’t as bad as it could be. When he arrives, there are some whining kids and background noises of people talking, mixed smells of ripe fruit and raw meat. Pulling off his helmet, Shuichi can see more clearly the people and children, gathered around all the food.

With nowhere to set his helmet down, he locks it down to his motorcycle and begins to walk away.

He glances around, searching. There’s an empty basket Shuichi abducts that he has to assume belongs to nobody but the store. If it does, he hopes he doesn’t get caught for petty-not-petty thievery crime.

Shuichi recites in his head an unplanned recipe. Eggs — which Shuichi would have to get in a dozen —, potatoes, and perhaps some tomatoes. As he searches around, he finds an egg carton along with potatoes and tomatoes in the produce section. He already has a bag of rice at home, so Shuichi goes over to the check-up counter and ignores the screaming child in front of him.

“Is that all?” The lady at the counter asks, and Shuichi avoids any sign of even looking her in the eye as he nods, head down. Showing no signs of even noticing, the lady scans the food and stuffs it all into a bag carelessly. Shuichi wishes that none of the eggs broke, but the pleas inside his head go unsaid and unrecognized.

Carefully, he makes his way back to the motorcycle.

The trip so far was uneventful, and it continues to be as he peacefully drives home. He’s thankful for that, considering anything about Kokichi is never simple. Shuichi would be shocked if the apartment was on fire, though it would be less shocking if it was Kokichi who did and not the neighbours.

Even better, the apartment was not on fire. Once more he shuffles through the flower garden and walks to the painted black door, apartment 53 and pulls out his keys in their copper-tinted glory. The moment he opens the door the first thing he notes is that Kokichi is at the front.

“Hi,” Shuichi shyly waves before taking his boot back off.

“Welcome back!” Kokichi smiles, hands in the air. “It took you twenty minutes to do that.”

Shuichi shrugs, “Er— sorry, five minutes there and five minutes back. But… um, got the eggs at least?” He forces out a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. “I also got tomatoes, if you don’t mind.”

“Go apeshit with those tomatoes, I don’t care,” Kokichi responds, a small smile curling on his face. “Actually, I do care. That was a lie. How many tomatoes did you get?” Shuichi raises a two with his fingers. “Three?”

“Two,” Shuichi says. “I got two tomatoes, two potatoes, and a dozen eggs..? The cost wasn’t too bad since the prices go cheaper in winter, so don’t worry about that, and... Uh, I think that we could start making food whenever you get hungry.”

“Oh! I just finished the pomegranate!” Kokichi explains, “So I’m all full now and my hands are painted with blood! Isn't that so cool!?” His eyes sparkle with delight as he shoved his hands forward. “By the way, I ate it with my fingers since I forgot where your spoons are, so now there may—”

“Kokichi,” Shuichi deadpans, “what did you do to my counter?” Shuichi tries to walk forward to see, but Kokichi waves his hands frantically in the air and smiles as he explains.

“Let me finish! So, uh, there may or may  _ not be,  _ keep that part in mind, okay? Anyways, anyways, there may or  _ may not be  _ a small mess on your floor.” Kokichi finishes, a wide, somewhat apprehensive grin taking over his face.

“The  _ floor?”  _ Shuichi asks, furrowing his brows, “... How would it get on the floor?”

“I was eating on the floor.” Kokichi simply answers, still grinning like a maniac getting ready for their death sentence. “Or to put into better terms, I was eating while sitting on the floor!”

“That,” Shuichi says, “that does not make this situation any better.” Shuichi walks forward despite Kokichi’s decision to try and stop him, seeing his kitchen floor.

Spotless.

“You didn’t let me finish!” Kokichi shouts, placing a hand on Shuichi’s shoulder. “The catch is, I cleaned it. Isn’t that great? It’s great, right? Right? Yeah? Please answer my life is on a thin line and if you pull I might die any second now.”

“Die, then,” Shuichi says, not unkindly. He sets the grocery bag down, with his gloves and helmet and all. “Was the… pomegranate good, Kokichi?”

Kokichi mumbles something underneath his breath, yawning. He walks over to the sink and washes his hands. “Mn, can’t remember. Anyways, when do you want to start making the food? ‘Cuz I’m fine whenever. Can’t remember if I answered that question, so! I’m good for now.”

“Alright.” Shuichi nods, putting away the food. “Do you want to… watch a movie with me? I know you didn’t bring anything to study with you and I’m doing Criminal Justice… I do have a lot of courses in Psych—”

Kokichi groans, rolling his eyes. “I don’t  _ want  _ to study. Let’s just watch a movie, or the news! Or something like that, y’know the gist of all of it.” Kokichi jumps to the couch, his hair getting messed up. Not like there was anything quite right to mess up, but now it just looks more bungled than before.

“A movie?” Shuichi asks, sitting down on the couch and throwing a navy pillow at Kokichi’s face. “Heads-up?”

“Geez, Kaito’s affecting you way too much,” Kokichi grumbles. He grabs a remote resting on the coffee table, poking at a button with a different finger. The television turns on with a flash and Kokichi makes his way through News programs, translations of other movies, to reruns of concerts. “This… movie. I like spy movies.”

“Kokichi, this is a document about jellyfish.” Shuichi points out, glancing at the screen.

“I stand by my point.” Kokichi stubbornly refutes. “Oh! That’s a pretty-looking jellyfish.”

Shuichi wraps an arm around Kokichi. “Kokichi. Kokichi, that there is not a jellyfish. They’re showing a… what is that? Oh, it’s a see-through shrimp.”

“Bioluminescent,” Kokichi notes, before bursting out laughing. “Oh my god! The actor— This actor is amazing. Look at the way they move in the water… Holy shit, this is such a good spy movie.”

“If you say so.” Shuichi gives up trying to convince Kokichi. He doesn’t even check his phone, knowing that whatever messages from Kaito and his new geese. “Hey, remind me to steal Kaito’s geese—”

“Actually.” Kokichi once more interrupts, eyes never once leaving the screen. “It’s a duck. Respect its choice.”

Shuichi sputters out his words, “P-Pardon me!? That’s not what you called it earlier!

Suddenly, purple eyes are staring into his own. Kokichi hits him with an abrupt change in topic, “If I was part of a killing game, do you really think I would only stick to one opinion the entire time? To one plan?”

“... No..?” Shuichi hesitatingly responds, “What does that even me—”

“Great!” Kokichi claps in Shuichi’s face, before hugging him. “Now, let’s go back to watching the sky movie. Oh! Woah, look at the waffle! I didn’t know waffles had any relevance to spies but hey, that’s totally okay! Man, that makes me wanna eat a waffle now. I’m not even hungry. I take back my decision. D’you think I could rule over the world instead?”

Shuichi pauses, deciding to stop thinking like Kokichi seems to have done long ago, instead leaning back into the couch and shutting his eyes. “Maybe if you try hard enough, Kokichi, then I’m sure you’ll be able to achieve anything.”

“Cool. Can I commit arson?” Kokichi asks, poking Shuichi’s cheek. 

Shuichi grumbles, “Not right now, let’s finish watching this… spy movie. Later, and not in my home?”

Pouting, Kokichi agrees. “Fine.”

It’s a promise.

**⊙**

Kokichi watches slowly, making strange mouthing noises while the egg albumen slowly drips into the pan. Sizzling noises begin to reach Shuichi’s air, and when he breathes in the air he can smell that… weird, awkward smell an egg lets out, whatever that smells like.

After a moment of thinking about it, he decides the smell is like an egg. Moving on, Shuichi is chopping up the potatoes, after having put the rice in the rice cooker a while back.

They just started making the food, right at the moment after Kokichi found some sort of awful bright yellow apron Angie accidentally left when everyone was painting over here. Shuichi makes sure his fingers don’t slip when the knife cuts down, one potato cut. The tomatoes are already cut, and Kokichi has cracked three eggs and successfully cracked two eggs, done cooking them and put them on the rice.

“And make it three!” Kokichi shouts in a cheerful tone. “Is that enough?”

Shuichi knows Kokichi doesn’t eat a lot, and Shuichi himself didn’t need too much food either. Then again, they were full-grown adults.

“Make it four successfully cracked eggs, please?” Shuichi politely asks, most notably adding the please at the end. Kokichi makes a noise that could either be described as  _ “nonsensically encouraging” _ or  _ “dreadfully pained”.  _

Shuichi can hear another egg cracking in the background though, one egg being moved off the pan and onto more rice, with a heavy breath he begins to cut the other potato.

Kokichi gasps, whispering,  _ “That makes four.  _ Shuichi! Look, I cracked four eggs! I did it! Look— Fuck.” He trips a little, the broken piece of the egg still in his hand. Kokichi crushes it even more, visibly wincing as he does.

“Oh shit, are you alright?” Shuichi asks, helping Kokichi back up.

Kokichi doesn’t bother looking up as he slowly pulls the sharp edges of the eggshell from his hand. “Yeah, I’m perfectly okay! Don’t worry, I’m fine.” Shuichi’s eyes trail to Kokichi’s hand to take a closer look. “I think the pan might be ready now.” Kokichi doesn’t point out how one of the egg shards seemed to have made a small cut in his hand.

“Ah, ah crap. Uh,” Shuichi turns the fire off, head twisting as he checks on Kokichi. “Alright, um, I’ll go grab the first aid kit—”

“From the failed camping trip?” Kokichi asks. “I hid the bandages in the pocket of your old high school uniform.” With the new detail Shuichi had no idea before, he panics. “Oh! But you’re looking for band-aids, right? I can find those myself, don’t worry.”

“Um.” Is all the words Shuichi has left to say as his brain begins to fail. “Okay.” He watches as Kokichi walks away, going to the bedroom. Kokichi probably knew where the band-aids were, so that’s good.

Shuichi tries to focus back on making the food, finishing cutting up the potatoes. He mixes the egg, rice, tomatoes, and potatoes all together, unsure how this will actually taste. Grabbing out two plates and a spoon, he ultimately decides that if it doesn’t taste alright then at least it’s still edible.

After a small period of time, Kokichi comes back with a bandage around his finger.

“You could sit down if you want.” Shuichi examines Kokichi’s hand, before sitting down. Kokichi sits down next to him. “Um, here’s your plate.”

“Thanks,” Kokichi says, grabbing the fork. “Saihara-chan,”

“That’s a different name than usual—”

Kokichi continues, “why is the fork plastic?” at the same time Shuichi is saying, “Kokichi, are you feeling alr— ah. Ignore that.”

“Saihara-chan,” Kokichi croons,  _ “why is my fork plastic and your’s is metal?” _

“Uh,” Shuichi replies rather intellectually. “... Because I, um, care? for… you..?”

“I asked, why is the fork plastic?” Kokichi asks once more, a smile taking over his face. Kokichi tends to smile often — when he’s content, shocked, confused, depressed, cat mode. This time it seems he’s angry, or, not exactly angry, but something close to that.

And that, is something Shuichi fears his life over.

“I… guess I haven’t washed my dishes yet.” Shuichi lies like he isn’t under the sharp gaze of an expert liar.

Kokichi whispers,  _ “I absolutely hate liars. Why? Is. The. Fork. Plastic?” _

Shuichi slumps in his chair, eyes falling to the floor as he begins to mumble half an answer. Kokichi starts talking, “Nah, I’m just kidding. You’re good. Anyways, let’s start eating!” Kokichi shouts his thanks and Shuichi says it after, beginning to eat.

In resolution, it didn’t taste too bad.

**⊙**

“Hm, hm hmmhm hmhm hmm hm hmmm..?” Kokichi says, in an indecipherable language that could take months— years, to decode. Kokichi spits out the toothpaste in his mouth, toothbrush in hand. “I said, so, I’m staying over for the night?”

“I mean, you don’t have your keys.” Shuichi reminds Kokichi, “It’s the cheaper price, and you’re more familiar with my place than a hotel or something, plus, my bed is literally right in front of you.”

“Oh, that question was rhetorical.” Kokichi clarifies.

Shuichi hums, “To answer your rhetorical question, yes. Yes, you are staying over. If you want to, I mean, but there’s no reason why you wouldn’t want to stay here.” Kokichi snorts, placing down his toothbrush and walking over to the bed. “Hey, do you mind if I read a bit before going to sleep..?”

“I do mind.” Kokichi waves, “but, you know the type of person I am.”

“That reminds me, how is your psychologist doing?” Shuichi asks, “The new one, um… Enoshima-san?”

Strangely, Kokichi breaks out laughing. “She’s in space now, dear.” With that vague explanation, Shuichi is unsure if he should ask anymore. When Kokichi continues, Shuichi guesses it’s a safe topic. “Nah, she’s… okay, I guess. Though it’s more like she needs her own therapy.”

“Wha… What? Could you repeat that?” Shuichi raises his eyebrows, disarranging his small bookshelf as he pulls out a new book.

“Junko is fucked up,” Kokichi tells once more. “Oh! I think I’ve read that before. Psychological horror, right?” He stretches, hands reaching into the air before plopping onto the bed.

“Yeah.” Shuichi nods, following suit to Kokichi. “What do you mean that… Enoshima-san is fucked up? Is she insane? Oh god, Kokichi, don’t tell me that you got another sociopath as a psychologist. It’s almost like you attract them.”

Kokichi clicks his tongue, tucking himself into the sheets. “I don’t attract them. They attract  _ me.  _ And, she’s sane enough.” Shuichi lets out a sigh of relief. “Don’t think that you would like her, with her personalities and all.”

“Plural,” Shuichi says because Kokichi added an S at the end of the word personality. The lights turn off with a flicker, the lamp cascading a warm-coloured glow.

“Plural,” Kokichi confirms with a small nod, staring at his phone. “Hey, do you think ghosts exist?”

“G-Ghosts..?” Shuichi asks, and that was the end of that conversation. “Why do you ask that when Kaito isn’t around?” He lays down on the bed, relaxing his muscles as he soon finds the page he was on before he stopped.

Kokichi laughs at that, in that weird noise version he chooses to do. “I don’t know, my head just broke and that was that. Anyways, back to ghosts.”

Shuichi feels Kokichi lean into him. Very gently, he says, “We never left the subject of ghosts, Kokichi.”

“Ghosts are like… I’m bored now— can’t think of anything to say.” Kokichi groans, “I hate this. Just because I didn’t sleep yesterday doesn’t mean it gets to fail like this.” Shuichi notes down the part where he says he didn’t sleep yesterday, remembering what Rantaro said earlier and when Kokichi dozed off.

The words from Kokichi himself, in all its vulnerable truth-y way that the truth fragilely works, only confirm that Shuiochi probably shouldn’t have let Kokichi stay up. “Sleep then, so you can wake up tomorrow and have a functioning brain.” His voice is quieter now that he knows it’s night, a hand finding its way to Kokichi’s head.

“Hypocrite,” Kokichi says, remembering the memories of the time Shuichi has texted him at too late a time. Those were all a blur, though. “But alright, I’ll sleep today just because you asked, ‘kay?” Kokichi hides his phone away in the drawer next to him.

“Okay.” Shuichi smiles, running a hand through Kokichi’s hair. “Night.”

It’s a weird thing, to be reading while Kokichi is trying to sleep next to him, the lamp being the only source of light. Kokichi sleeps curled up in a ball most of the time, Shuichi knows, and when he glances over Kokichi is doing that. Time passes as he reads, putting the small bookmark on page seventy-four. Shuichi lightly puts the book down on the floor and switches off the light.

In the dark, he can still see the tint of Kokichi’s hair while he drifts to sleep.

**⊙**

Shuichi likes to go to sleep late, wake up early. Coffee acts as his fuel, for every moment he’s awake too late for his well-being, for every horrible morning wake up when his alarm is beeping loudly into his ear, for passing seconds in class when his thoughts are slowly drifting into the depth of an uncontrollable force called  _ “the need to sleep.” _

Kokichi’s schedule is, even more, a mess, Shuichi knows. He falls asleep in the middle of the day sometimes, waking up late at night and putting it off as normal. Other times, in the one class they have together Shuichi glances over to find Kokichi sleeping, and apparently, that’s averagely normal. When he asks Kokichi about it, Kokichi denies it or says that he’s too busy at night working on schoolwork or whatever convenient store job he has (which, Shuichi has figured out he doesn't have any convenient store clerk or stocking job).

So when Kokichi wakes up earlier than Shuichi at three in the morning, or so Kokichi says, Shuichi doesn’t find himself too shocked.

“Early breakfast.” Kokichi shrugs off as if it’s normal to wake up so early. Shuichi knows that some people wake up that early, due to reasons all of their own. “Hey, what’s the mixed name for breakfast and dinner?”

“There isn’t one,” Shuichi states because it’s true. “What did you even eat? And hey, why didn’t you fall back to sleep?”

Kokichi looks away, crossing his arms as he sits in one of the stools. “I had something I needed to do, of course. Do you want to know the truth, Shuichi? Because you probably won’t understand it.”

Sighing, Shuichi responds, “Are you going to use the same reasoning? Kokichi, it’s been four years since—”

“It’s your choice or not to believe if I’m not a leader of a secret organization. Which, by the way, is a lie.” Kokichi says, “but then again, I’m not so sure myself.” He taps his chin, putting his knees close to his face. “I had the other pomegranate for breakfast, dinner, whatever.”

“It’s still in the fridge..?” Shuichi points out, pulling it out.

Kokichi shrugs again, going to twirl a strand of his hair. “Sorry.” And it sounds so much more genuine from Kokichi than anything else Shuichi remembers.

“I’m sorry too, I’m— I’m just, um, worried. I’ll cut open that weird fruit for you.” Shuichi apologizes as well, “Please, sleep more? That really isn’t healthy.” Shuichi, the hypocrite, pulls out the pomegranate, washing it off in the sink.

Kokichi yawns. “‘Kay,” he lies, “Hey, Shumai.”

“Yes?” Shuichi answers, drying the pomegranate. It’s a tedious process, having to dry it off with a paper towel.

There’s a noise in the background, and he seems to be putting something on the counter. “You still have any Panta? The purple type. Not for drinking, though. I want to bathe in it.” Kokichi asks, and Shuichi can already see Kokichi’s straight face as he says that.

Shuichi cracks a smile, “Please don’t. I don’t think my shower will be able to handle that. Or you, in that case.” Shuichi fidgets with the knife in his hand. “How do I..?” Setting the weapon for his victim down, he checks his phone. “What..? Hey Kokichi, what are ridges?”

“Hell if I know,” Kokichi responds. “When I ate it, I… Woah, I think I found a plothole.” He seems a little shocked by his statement, even though there are many plotholes in this, many things you cannot make sense of and that’s okay. Kokichi settles for the lie, “I don’t remember, my memory was pretty bad yesterday.”

“... Huh.” Is the only thing Shuichi can say. “Oh, I think I did it.”

“Congrats. You know how to break open a pomegranate! Wow, I feel like my firstborn son just got his bachelor's diploma in Tokyo University.” Kokichi grins, and Shuichi hands him the pomegranate. “Congrats, son. I’m so proud of you.”

Shuichi glances down at the black box on the table, small in size. His first thought is: I fear that a snake is in there, as one normally thinks when a black box is on their counter. “Thanks, I’m proud of myself too.”

“No, wait that’s illega— Wait, no, nevermind. False alarm.” Kokichi says, grabbing the pomegranate. “What are you going to eat?” He asks when Kokichi knows Shuichi doesn’t eat breakfast.

“Coffee,” Shuichi replies blandly, grabbing a mug out of a cupboard.

Frowning, Kokichi extends the box over to Shuichi. “Here, a gift. It’s your breakfast.”

Shuichi doubts there’s any food in there, and his mind feels lightheaded when he realizes what’s inside. There’s a sudden urge to not open it when it hits him, an urge Shuichi doesn’t understand. “Let me finish making the coffee first.”

Understandably, Kokichi doesn’t respond. Shuichi can feel his blank gaze watching him.

Shuichi pulls out the coffee beans, putting them into the coffee maker. He leaves his mug under, a gift he got from Kokichi long ago back when Kokichi still talked to that crazy white-haired kid who burnt the gym building down.

“After this, do you want to go get your keys from Rantaro or stay here for a bit?” Shuichi asks, the silence breaking apart. “You’re free to do whatever.”

One second.

Two seconds.

Three, four, five and counting. Thirty seconds pass.

“I want to,” Kokichi finally answers, after a minute passes with the only noise being the churning noise of cheap coffee being made. “I don’t know.”

“I’ll help you figure it out then.” Shuichi says, “You have class at twelve and one at two, right? And then an appointment at seven, so… yeah, we can get the keys before.” Shuichi looks over his shoulder, to see Kokichi nod. He’s staring down at his phone, eyes not leaving the screen.

More silence. Shuichi turns over and grabs his coffee when ready, speaking, “Um. What are you doing?”

Kokichi slides over the phone, a wide smile on his face. “Looking at the geese. Apparently, Kaito took a picture of it sleeping.” A white goose with its head tucked into its ruffled feathers shows up on the screen. “Sorry, I was spamming him.”

It goes unsaid that Kokichi left no messages under Kaito and his private messages.

“Cute geese.” Shuichi comments, taking a sip of his coffee. He glances at the box, unsure of what to do. “Uh… box? Should I— Should I, um, open the box now? Or..?” Kokichi doesn’t bother looking up as he snatches his phone back and slides it over to Shuichi.

He takes that as a yes.

“So…” Shuichi says, “okay.”

The box is black and small. Not much more to say, with the way it sits on the counter. Slowly, Shuichi opens it. It opens with a snap, and reveals… Ah. “Kokichi,” Shuichi mumbles, “what is this.” 

It’s something different than what Shuichi first expected, and what Shuichi expected secondly. It’s some ring of a rat? A mouse, curled around nothing and leaving Shuichi even more unsure of what to do.

“Oh fuck, wrong one.” Kokichi curses, snatching it and stuffing it away. “Sorry. Here.” He pulls something out of his pocket, another small black box.

“Kokichi, why—”

Kokichi abruptly puts his hands into the air, shaking them around as he shouts, “It was magic! Magic! Yeah, magic!” Shuichi dearly hopes Kokichi doesn’t wake up the neighbours. “Open it now, open open open, and oh hey look I learnt how to talk again. Yeah, sorry about that I forgot how to speak.”

Shuichi smiles, “That’s good. O-Oh, and also, yes.”

“Yes? Kokichi tilts his head, and Shuichi can't tell if he's acting oblivious or is just confused. "So yeah?" Shuichi opens the box slowly, carefully as he stares at the ring. "I mean, gay marriage isn't legal yet and this is just for show and we never officially said we were dating so— yeah? As in, yes? Yeah?"

"Yes." Shuichi reaffirms, face tinting pink. "This… I'm— Can I be honest?"

"Who am I to stop you?" Kokichi takes Shuichi's hand into his own.

"I don't, I don't think I'm ready to marry yet or to have a fiance, or— I-I don't think I'm ready for that, so when it… when it clicked in my head that you were going to give me a ring, my brain just sort of broke and I… is it alright, if you wait a bit for me..?" Shuichi asks, "Sorry, that probably sounds wrong and weird and, I. Can't talk, sorry."

"No no, it's fine. But… that means we're officially dating? Not this weird thing where we kiss and hug and cuddle and it's not really dating? And that this is actually happening?" Shuichi nods, and Kokichi sighs, slumping to the counter. "Fucking thank you. Do you know how long I had to pretend that yesterday was a normal date? That there wasn't like, a ring—"

"That reminds me, why is there two in your—"

"In my pocket. I stress-ate so many cake slices and,  _ you just watched me.  _ That was so weird. Really weird. Extremely weird. Then I just slept with a ring in my pocket, like I wasn't about to, do something. This thing. Confess. Whatever it's called! Like I wasn't about to do that.  _ Then I wait ten minutes as you make coffee and cut a pomegranate even though you.  _ That. Today. Wait, how do talk— How do I."

"I'm not sure how to talk, myself," Shuichi explains calmly, "but I think… um, you have to breathe..? I may be wrong though."

"Right, right. I've been texting everyone for like, six hours straight about a speech and stuff and. You know what, I'm done talking." Kokichi announces, "Just. I don’t even have the cherry lipstick on and I planned to do this yesterday what the fuck."

"Mn," Shuichi says, "too late for that, I guess. So… are we supposed to kiss? Now?"

"Sure— Yeah. Yeah I would kind of like that." Kokichi agrees. "If you could."

Shuichi flinches, slightly bewildered by what was going on. His brain, ever the slow thing it was, was starting to realize what was going on. Anxiety begins to rumble and it sneezes in his head. "Oh, uh… right. Sorry. Not sorry but, um." He leans forward, awkwardly like the first time they kissed back in high school.

"Yeah." Kokichi mirrors his actions in more fluid likeness, leaning over the counter. "Okay… do not knock over the pomegranate, task number one. Kiss your official boyfriend, so number two. Commit crimes, task number three." Then their lips touch.

Shuichi realizes Kokichi’s lips tastes like strange fruit. He puts his bets that it's the pomegranate. Kokichi's lips are dry, prompting the thought that Shuichi should offer him water. Soft though, Shuichi thinks, dissolving his thoughts like ice under hot weather.

"Task number two done." Kokichi smiles, pulling away.

"And, do you mind if we have another date next week?" Shuichi asks. He's busy pulling out a glass now, busy filling it with water. He passes it to Kokichi.

"Not at all." Kokichi responds, "Maybe we should ride around in your motorcycle!" He seems excited, with tired eyes Shuichi never thought enough about to point out and a lazy grin on his face. "Actually, bad idea. We might die."

"If you say so," Shuichi decides to say, "if you change your mind though, I'll be there."

"Thanks," is all Kokichi responds with. "I'll be there too."

**Author's Note:**

> Outfits - I don't know I just sorta saw the drawing and was like, "yup yup that's totally leather" whilst my head nodded and yeah that was Canon. Ouma's outfit I just made up while this little knitted duck, whom I call Lez, sat on my stomach.
> 
> How they met - I also made that up as a knitted duck called Lez, coincidentally the same duck I mentioned earlier, sat on my stomach. (I call it Lez 'cuz its base colours are the lesbian flag colours.)
> 
> Cafe aesthetic - As if it were fate, this was also made up on the top of my head. I don't know, I was just vibing with this today and Lez didn't stop me so, shrug. Hey, would you like to see Lez?
> 
> Ludenburg Celestia - It took me 10 minutes and dinnertime to remember her name. Lez rhymes with led.
> 
> Tiramisu - This is a type of coffee cake. It tastes pretty good. Anyways, more about Lez.
> 
> Kiri-chan - I forgot the pretty lady's name so I just said this. Sorry, I don't write much about them so I forgot… Lez likes lettuce, salty lettuce. I think she also likes bread, but that's bad for her. Because it's more processed. Y'know. 
> 
> Saihara's comment on the coffee - Are you sure. Are you absolutely sure the coffee was fine? Or are you just lying to yourself? Is this how you cope? With bad things in your life? Convincing yourself it's fine? Or was the coffee really, truly, actually just "fine"?
> 
> Motorcycle detailing - I actually had no fucking clue what I was doing when I was writing this, and I was writing this on a trip and I'm only allowed minimal access to wifi so… uh, if anyone happens to ride a motorcycle and wants to try and correct me, that would be quite funny, so please do. I'll probably look into it later when I get internet, but for now, while I write this, _shrug._
> 
> Theocracy - If one of you knowledgeable folks don't know, a Theocracy is a type of government. It's basically a government centralized around the religion of a God or multitudes of Gods. This comment is a joke in the story and is not to be taken lightly, so I'm sorry to all the people who aren't that good with this stuff to say something about this. This apology is just in case though, and will not apply to everyone.
> 
> Band-aids and Bandages - Bandages are the long strip of cloth or something similar to help aid in healing a wound or, you know. A band-aid is those smaller things that you often see when you’re a child because you scratched your finger against the sharp edge of a paper. This is in case somebody did not know! Thought I would specify ‘cuz I overthink.
> 
> “I do mind.” Kokichi waves, “but, you know the type of person I am.” “That reminds me, how is your psychologist doing?” Shuichi asks, “The new one, um… Enoshima-san?” - This passage you may have noticed the sudden switch in conversation. That’s because the last words Ouma says here are referring to how he is a liar, implying that to the words Shuichi says it was such a bad problem he had to get a psychologist. You could probably guess with certainty what that problem Ouma has. I don’t know, I choose to leave it vague.
> 
> That one awkward fight-not-really-a-fight about Kokichi’s sleep schedule - I actually have no fucking clue what this means. I’m not the one writing, it’s my brain, and I think it broke off contact with me a long time ago so… uh, decide what’s true or not, since I’m not even sure if Ouma knows himself the truth. I think my brain just got tired of writing fluff but not really fluff. Man Lez just disappeared.
> 
> This story - I officially hate this now what the hell Saihara's personality just wooshed


End file.
